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My first overnight hang

I received my BB 1.1 double last week just in time to reserve my spot with the Cincinnati Backpackers meetup.com group. The twelve of us backpacked over the weekend in a primitive area of the Red River Gorge called the Clifty Wilderness on an eight mile trail that is considered the roughest in the area. This was greatly compounded by the recent ice storm that central Kentucky received which resulted in hundreds of downed trees across the trail.

Needless to say, after making our way to camp after six miles of crawling over, under and through downed trees, we all were completely exhausted. Being only the second time that I had setup my BB, it took me about two minutes to get it hung. I then proceeded to comfortably lay and swing in my BB as the other campers set up their tents and looked on with what I perceived as intense jealousy. Out of the twelve backpackers, only me and one of the ladies had hammocks.

I used a full length hiker version of the thermarest. It's the old red one. I also used a 15 degree down bag. The double layers of the hammock were very helpful in that as I moved around during the night, they allowed me to reach through the top layer and adjust the placement of the pad. As long as I was on the pad, I was very very warm. The temperature only dropped down to the 50s. That was the only problem, I had to be very careful to keep the pad under me or I would develop cold spots on my shoulders and/ or legs. It was just like I've read here in the forums. A 20" wide pad is not fun to sleep on.

Overall I had a great nights sleep due to the amount of room and positions that the BB allowed. One of the best parts was when I would wake up to change position during the night. Whenever that happens, the BB would gently start rocking to lull me right back to sleep.

So I guess I'm now definitely hooked. I'm ready to get a dedicated CCF hammock pad until I decide on an underquilt. When are the Yetis going to be ready!

That's awesome Chris. Glad you had a good time and I wish I could joined you.

You said another lady was using a hammock? What kind did she have?

She had a purple gathered end hammock that she made herself. The ends were gathered with zipties and the suspension was rope with descending rings. She used an underquilt which she made from a thin thrift shop down quilt. Her tarp was a Maccat Ultra which she had borrowed. I think she said her ex-boyfriend used to be on here as "coffee".